Talon Esports has finished impressively in the Dreamleague Season 20 tournament. They advanced from the group stage and ended fourth after losing to the eventual champions, Gaimin Gladiators.
Talon became the center of attention as the only representative from Southeast Asia in Dreamleague S20. Their decline in performance during the Major competition in Berlin and the Dota 2 Pro Circuit SEA Tour 3 a few weeks ago made them less reckoned in the competition. Their fans’ scepticism grew when Talon was put together in group A among heavyweights like Team Spirit, Evil Geniuses, Tundra, and PSG.LGD.
As the tournament went on, Talon were emulating their impressive Lima Major’s form. They maintained a third-place finish in Group A and qualified for the next group stage. In the advanced group stage, they secured fourth place and advanced to the lower bracket semi-finals by defeating Team Spirit, BetBoom, Team Aster and 9Pandas.
These results certainly provide them with considerable moral support after experiencing a surprising decline during the month of May to mid-June. And in that tournament, the carry from Indonesia Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman was highly praised due to his impressive performance against 9Pandas, where he racked up 18 kills in the game with Windranger and assisted his teammates Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon with impressive Storm Spirit and Slark combo.
Following their exit from the defeat against Gaimin Gladiators, Mikoto stated that these great results were inspired by his captain Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong and coach Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae.
“Probably I think what is making a difference is when we are studying the same lineup. Jabz and SunBhie have given a lot of impact on us,” said Mikoto. “They are teaching us a lot and always sharing a lot of information that we can learn from. So I think I am just confident more compared to last year.”
Talon Esports will have a bit time to catch a break after the Dreamleague S20 competition. Since they have ended in fourth place in the DPC SEA Tour 3, which cost their chance to go to their final Major in Bali, they are most likely going to focus on the Riyadh Masters in Saudi Arabia next month. Aside from that, the 1120 DPC points in their pocket have guaranteed them a direct invitation to The International 12 which will take place in Seattle, Washington DC, in October 2023.
